State may turn up pressure on water violations

That guy down the street who irrigates his driveway each morning might have a cold shower coming his way: a $500 fine for wasting water.

Alex Breitler

That guy down the street who irrigates his driveway each morning might have a cold shower coming his way: a $500 fine for wasting water.

State water cops on Wednesday announced unprecedented emergency rules that, if approved later this month, would limit how everyday Californians use water.

Similar rules are already on the books in Stockton and other local communities. In other words, we're already supposed to be doing this stuff.

Depending on how local agencies enforce the emergency rules, however, the consequences for ignoring them could become much more severe. The $500-per-day penalty is five times higher than penalties allowed under Stockton's city code, for example.

"We are in one of the worst statewide droughts in modern times," said Felicia Marcus, chairwoman of the State Water Resources Control Board. "We are going to see hundreds of thousands of acres of fields fallowed this year and thousands of people out of work. We have communities struggling for water and people bathing out of buckets. We have creeks running dry, and fish and wildlife are going to be suffering."

It's time for the rest of us to contribute, she said - even communities with relatively healthy water supplies, including Stockton.

A healthy water supply "is not an excuse to waste a precious resource and let it just go down the sidewalk and down the drain," Marcus said.

The state estimates 480,000 acre-feet of water would be saved under the rules, more than enough to fill Lake Camanche, northeast of Stockton.

Marcus added, however, that the rules represent the "minimum" that Californians should do.

The "new" rules:

» You can't overwater. If sprinkler water is running onto the sidewalks or into the gutters, you're in violation.

» You can't use a hose to wash your car unless it has a shut-off nozzle attached.

» No washing down hard surfaces such as sidewalks or driveways.

» No potable water in decorative fountains unless the water is recirculated.

Water suppliers also would face new requirements. Those that don't already have a plan to deal with water shortages must come up with one, and fast - perhaps going so far as to limit outdoor irrigation to two days a week, the draft regulations say.

Stockton does have drought plans and already forbids runoff from lawns as well as irrigation between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. - although those are routine rules that take effect whether there's a drought or not.

Mel Lytle, head of the city's Municipal Utilities Department, said Wednesday that he wants clarification from state officials on exactly what the city would be expected to do under the new emergency rules.

Lytle also expressed concern about enforcing the rules. While Stockton's city code says residents can be fined up to $100 per day for flouting city rules, the emphasis to date has been on education - not punishment.

"We don't have local water cops on staff that can even do this," Lytle said. "If there's a leaky pipe or a water distribution issue, we have teams that go out and fix pipes all the time. Writing $500 citations based on how much water flows over a sidewalk from a lawn, that's another thing altogether."

"We do want to bring attention to the issue," Lytle added. "We're in a very significant drought, and we need to do what we can."

Steve Bayley, Tracy's deputy director of public works, called the $500 fine "ludicrous" but noted that the draft regulation says "up to $500," suggesting that cities could continue to impose much smaller penalties. In Tracy, the potential penalty for wasting water is $50 and is rarely applied, Bayley said.

Some activists would prefer the state go even further. Stockton environmentalist Dale Stocking favors more uniform water conservation practices across California.

"If other areas of the state can only water two days a week, then Stockton should only water two days a week," Stocking said. "We're all in the same canoe."

Peter Gleick, president of the Oakland-based Pacific Institute water think tank, said he supports the emergency rules but has "no blind expectations that they will be enough."

"The most important impact may be to raise awareness of the seriousness of the drought and move people to taking long-needed actions to cut their water use, especially outdoor water use," Gleick said.

The proposed rules come after a recent survey of water agencies found that Californians had reduced water usage only about 5 percent during the drought, far short of Gov. Jerry Brown's goal of 20 percent conservation. Not all water providers in San Joaquin County responded to the survey, but those who did also fell short of the 20 percent target.

Marcus said the new rules would be applied with a "light touch" and acknowledged that the state could do more - and still might.

That doesn't mean residents shouldn't do more right now, Marcus said, adding that a dirty car and a brown lawn "should be a badge of honor."

If approved by the water board next week, the rules would kick in about Aug. 1.

Contact reporter Alex Breitler at (209) 546-8295 or abreitler@recordnet.com. Follow him at recordnet.com/breitlerblog and on Twitter @alexbreitler.